Oklahoma Crushes Quinnipiac Behind Offensive Onslaught

The Oklahoma Sooners put on a tremendous offensive display in their first round matchup with Quinnipiac in the NCAA tournament on Saturday. The Sooners put up an incredible 111 points and rolled to a 111-84 victory to advance to the second round.

The Sooners will take on the winner of the Stanford-Cal State Northridge matchup on Monday.

Oklahoma surpassed its highest point total this season, which came in a 104-55 win over Bradley back on Nov. 21. The Sooners 57 points in the first half and had over 100 points with just under four minutes remaining.

Team basketball was the magic formula for the Sooners, as Oklahoma assisted on 27 of its 40 made baskets, with nine players recording at least one assist. The Sooners also shot 55.6 percent from the field and 13-of-29 from 3-point range.

11 of the 14 players that saw the court for Oklahoma scored.

The score would have been much worse if not for some lackadaisical defense at times from OU. The Bobcats hit 12 3-pointers and went 26-of-33 from the free throw line thanks to a lot of Oklahoma fouls. However, Quinnipiac still shot just 35 percent for the game.

Six players scored in double figures for Oklahoma, led by Gabbi Ortiz's 16 points in her first NCAA tournament game. Vionise Pierre-Louis and Maddie Manning each had 15 points off the bench, and Pierre-Louis also chipped in nine rebounds. McKenna Treece had 14 and Sharane Campbell-Olds had 11.

Kaylon Williams had perhaps the strangest line of the day. The junior finished with 12 points in six minutes, but had eight in the first five minutes of the game. But foul trouble sent her to the bench at the 14:32 mark of the half and she didn't return. In the second half, she scored the Sooners' first two baskets but also picked up two more fouls in four minutes and headed back to the bench for the rest of the game.

Fortunately, the Sooners had no need for her interior dominance, nor did the absence of Peyton Little's production hurt. Little was 2-for-9 from the field and scored just five points.

Jasmine Martin had 24 points to lead four players in double figures for Quinnipiac.

The Sooners were on fire from the outset, rolling to a 19-5 lead in the first four minutes of the game. The lead never dipped to single digits, and the Sooners led by 17, 57-40, at halftime.

In the second half, Quinnipiac rallied, capitalizing on OU's coldest offensive stretch of the game to cut the lead to 67-56 with 13:32 remaining. But the Sooners were up for the challenge, hitting 3-pointers on their next two possessions to stretch the lead to 17. In just 2:23 of game time, Oklahoma reeled off a 12-0 run to push the lead to 79-56 and end any threat of an upset.

Oklahoma now sits just a win away from a home game at Chesapeake Energy Arena in the Sweet 16 next Friday. A few more offensive displays like Saturday's and the Sooners could be looking beyond OKC.